The Northport Tigers are the sixth ranked team in the LILJ preseason rankings and enter 2022 as the defending Class A Long Island Champions. Overall they finished last season with a 15-3 record, winning their final 13 games. This year they are coming back with every intention of repeating as Long Island champs and competing for a state championship. Head Coach Larry Cerasi says his team is looking forward to coming back after what they accomplished last year.
“The team is looking forward to following up a successful 2021 campaign with returners and some newcomers eager to make their mark in a very competitive Suffolk Class A Conference.”
Michael Meyer (Bucknell) will be the driving force for their offense at the attack position. He was the team’s leading scorer with 40 goals and finished second in points with 61. Meyer is surrounded by a returning midfield unit of Tim Kirchner (Siena), Jack Helrigel, and Jacob Starcke. The trio combined to post 49 points. Overall Northport had an explosive offense that scored 202 goals which was the fourth most in Suffolk County. Tyler Kuprianchik (Penn State) comes back as the reigning face-off specialist of the year, winning 270/337 face-offs which was good for 80%.
Drew Miller (West Point) is another key returning player that has the ability to play multiple positions. He plays a combination of defense and LSM. The versatility he brings adds an element to Northport that not many teams can say they have. Miller also added 10 points last season with nine goals. Defenders , Daniel Eagers, and Jack Sandrib (Siena) are back as part of an elite defense that held opponents under 10 goals 15 times.
Their title defense will be without four players that were instrumental in their run last season. Attackman Ryan McCarthy accounted for 62 points which was the most on the team. Casey Fortunato and Tristan Triolo also played a major role in the offense, recording 30 and 27 points respectively. Andrew Tittman was the last line of defense, notching over 100 saves with a save percentage over 60%. The Tigers have two seniors, Peter Ferrara and Luke Lamendola who are both great stoppers and are ready to step-up in 2022.
The team is primarily composed of juniors and seniors, but four young guns who could potentially see the field this year are Nicholas Valenti, Tim Clearly, Nick Tzimas, and Macklin O’Brien.
A full schedule means Northport has plenty of notable games this season against some top ranked opponents both in and out of conference. Marquee games include at Mt. Sinai (3/23), home against Port Washington (3/25), at Bay Shore (4/6), home against Smithtown East (4/12), at Huntington (4/22), and home against Ward Melville (4/30).
The Northport lacrosse program has seen plenty of great players play for them throughout the years. Here are notable alumni that have recently graduated from Northport High School and went on to play at the collegiate level.
Brian Cannon (UNC)
Austin Henningsen (Maryland)
Rocco Sutherland (Michigan)
Finn Goonan (Michigan)
Sal Miccio (Sacred Heart)
Ryan Magnuson (Navy)
John Trainor (Navy)
